


A Solemn Duty

by Megchad22



Series: Honor cancels the apocalypse [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M, Found Footage, M/M, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, outside pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25376014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megchad22/pseuds/Megchad22
Summary: The sound of the the shot was unnoticed among the fighting, then“Medic, Medic. Dammit, can we get a medic here”The calls continued for a few moments, sadly echoed by far too many up and down the line. Before anything could come of the calls there was another crack of gunshot and the one of the voices calling for a medic fell silent.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves/Leonard Peabody
Series: Honor cancels the apocalypse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848868
Comments: 11
Kudos: 266
Collections: Finished faves, Numerous OTPS Infinite Fandoms, The Best of Klaus





	1. The Duty

_ The sound of the the shot was unnoticed among the fighting, then  _

_ “Medic, Medic. Dammit, can we get a medic here” _

_ The calls continued for a few moments, sadly echoed by far too many up and down the line. Before anything could come of the calls there was another crack of gunshot and the one of the voices calling for a medic fell silent.  _

“Well, damn” Corporal Jenkins muttered. A wave of agreement floated in the air around the tent. 

Frank Pierce scrubbed a hand across his face. This was not the first loss they had suffered in the sixth months he had been on the front lines. They could even count themselves lucky that the Sky Soldiers had only lost two in this battle. It hurt a little bit more losing these two in particular but they all knew the risks. 

Suddenly Anderson let out a chuckle that was more than a little watery, “Fuck, at least they went out together. Could you imagine having to deal with either of them without the other.”

One of the newer privates, the name on his jacket said McKay, leaned forward. “If that fairy Hargreeves was that weak, it is better he managed to get himself killed.”

There was an immediate cry of pain as Sarge’s large bricklike hand shot out to connect with McKay’s jaw, “You will keep a respectful tongue in your head or I’ll tear it out. Hargreeves was a damn good soldier who saved all of our lives more than once.”

Mudslide Jackson leaned back, looking fond. “Plus, Hargreeves is not the one we would have had to worry about. Could you imagine if Katz had survived and Hargreeves hadn’t. Sarge’d have to assign someone full time to keep him from walking into a minefield.”

Frank looked up. McKay looked a little mutinous, probably because Mudslide was not reprimanded for his ‘disrespect’. “Really?”

As much as he considered both Klaus and Dave his older brothers, he was well aware who was the calmer of the two.

Mudslide laughed. The sound lacked any quality that made it sound happy but that, at least, was familiar. “I know he seemed stable but you didn’t meet Katz before Hargreeves dropped in. He had not adjusted to life at the front. Some of the old-timers figured he was about a week away from eating his gun. Barely functioned. Then that skinny mad bastard dropped into the tent and it’s like we got two soldiers for the price of one.”

The afternoon passed like it had every other time they had lost one of their own, remembering the good and the bad of the lost. Eventually Sarge brought out Hargreeves briefcase. He was solemn when he handed the briefcase to Frank. “Did Hargreeves ever tell you how this thing worked?”

Frank nodded, “He wanted Dave and I both to know. At least how he thought it worked”

Sarge said nothing, just nodded tightly. Then he turned and left. 

As soon as Frank was alone in the tent he twisted the dial and opened the time machine. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  
  


After arriving back in the future it took some time for Frank to find the Umbrella Academy. A few people looked at him strangely, dressed in dirty fatigues as he was. Most ignored him, though, even when he tried to speak with them. He figures they assume he’s homeless. 

He arrived at the large mansion just in time for the door to fly open and a petite woman stormed out. She is followed by another man about her age. She nearly ran into him before she realized he was there. 

He looked at her. Klaus had told them all and going by his descriptions this must be… “You’re Vanya, right? Vanya Hargreeves?”

For just a moment surprise and pleasure brightened her face before suspicion leeched some of the light away. “Look, if you’re if it's about the book…?”

Frank was confused for a moment, “Book? I’m a friend of Klaus’s. Please I am looking for his family.”

Something bitter hardened the woman’s eyes. “You can find the entire  _ Umbrella Academy _ ” she spit words like they were rotten things on her tongue, “in there.” She started to move away, anger radiating off her.

He almost let her go, but he had to do right by his brother. That means talking to his family. Frank moved back in front of the woman, “Please wait, you are Vanya, right? Klaus’s sister.”

Her expression pinched. “I doubt any of them considered me family, but my name is Vanya. Look if you have something to say to Klaus' family, they're all in there.” She gestured at the mansion again.

Frank was happy he had found the right place. It was obvious that he would need to convince her to come back inside. He had to do right by Kluas, “He told me about you, along with the others. He missed you all. Please, I need to talk to you all.”

For a minute he thought he had slipped up because her face hardened further. Then a challenging look passed across her face, “What did he say?”

The question felt like a test. Frank remembered when Klaus talked about the book Vanya had written and thought that might have something to do with it. “He said that you were tiny. A musician and an author. He didn’t know you a well as he should. Your violin used to block out the ghosts so he would sit outside your room while you were practicing. He said you saw more than you realized and that was probably what made you so anxious. He never thanked you for what you wrote.”

Her face had remained dark and angry throughout his shaky recollection, but the last sentence jolted her, enough that she interrupted him. “Why would he thank me?”

Frank grimaced, “He told us that even the things that were wrong or different than he remembered they weren’t lies. You were honest when you were wrong. But he wanted to thank you for things you had not said. He never told us what it was but there was some secret you held back, something you saw or knew that you never wrote about.”

Finally it seemed like he had given the right answer. Vanya’s face softened. Strangely the man behind her seemed to tense. He was also pale, forgettable. The man reached out to lay a hand on Vanya’s shoulder, “We should get going, Vanya.”

Vanya started, just slightly, “Oh.” She bit her lips and looked at Frank, “This is important?”

Frank nodded, “Yes, it is. I swear it.”

Vanya nodded then turned to the other man, “We can wait a few minutes, can’t we Leonard? Since it is important.”

Something seemed off in Leonard's expression but Frank could not tell what, “Since it is important.” he repeated.

They went into the mansion. Vanya led them toward a sitting room just in time to hear a voice say, “...we died.”

They entered to see what was clearly Klaus' siblings spread throughout the room. Frank had an odd moment when he realized that Klaus had not been exaggerating with what had to be Luther. It took a moment for any of them to realize that Vanya had come back and that she had other people with her.

Luther frowned at them, “Who are they?”

Vanya grimaced, then gestured to Leonard, “This is my boyfriend Leonard. And this is a friend Klaus...” She turned to Frank, “I just realized I never got your name.” She shook her head, “He says he has something important to tell us about Klaus.”

Luther scoffed, “Look, if you are one of his dealers, we’re not paying what you think he owes you.”

Frank shook his head, “”That’s not...That’s not why I'm here. My name is…”

This time it was Allison who interrupted, “I’m sorry but we really do have other things we need to deal with. Klaus will have to wait. The end of the world...”

“...is canceled.” A young voice continued as a teeneager walked through a flash of blue light into the room. Frank startled, even with Klaus’s stories something about that was deeply freaky. The teenager looked around the room and when his eyes landed on Frank for just a moment they became impossibly old. “Huh, I hadn’t thought it would be that soon.” He muttered.

“Wait, what do you mean canceled?” Diego exclaimed. “What happened?”

The teen( Five? Was that Klaus’s brother named after a number? Frank figured it must be) shrugged. “No one knows, The Commission is in a shambles, but the memo came down from upper management. The apocalypse is canceled. Seems that whatever the conditions were became impossible to accomplish. Do you drink?”

It took a moment before Frank realized that Five was talking to him, “Uh...yes, sometimes.”

The teen teleported to the bar in the corner of the room and pulled out a bottle and poured two glasses, “Likely better quality than you’ve had recently.” There was another flash of blue and 

Frank was handed a glass of something that likely cost more than all the drinks he had bought in Vietnam combined. He took a sip and relished the smooth, smokey burn. “You know why I’m here?”

Five nodded, “Yes, I didn’t expect it now but I knew it would happen. How far have you gotten?”

Frank took a breath and another drink to fortify himself, “Nowhere so far.” The feel of the throom shifted with impatience. Frank closed his eyes, he could practically hear Dave gently pushing him to stop stalling. “I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Private Frank Pierce of the 173rd Sky Soldiers. Up until approximately 3 hours ago I was serving in the Vietnam war; 1968 specifically.”

Luther scoffed, “Right. Look, did Klaus put you up to this? Whatever he promised you I am sure he can’t deliver it...”

“Luther” Five interrupted. Every eye in the room swung to him. Whatever Luther saw in those old eyes made him shut his mouth with a click, “He is telling the truth. I suggest you listen to what he has to say.”

“How do you know?” Vanya asked softly.

Five grimaced, “I’ll tell you all once Private Pierce gets through telling you what he needs to.” 

The room turned its attention back to Frank, he wasn’t ready for this. He had never done this before but he promised. He had to do right by brothers. Klaus would have done this for him. He squared his shoulders. “I served with Klaus Hargreeves for six months. He served his country bravely and saved many lives. He and another soldier by the name of Dave Katz were like older brothers to me. The only family I can actually claim. He was shot and killed attempting to get Dave medical attention on november 15th 1968. At the time of his death he had been serving for 10 months. I am sorry to be the one who has to bring this news.”

The words had left in a rush. It was clear that it took a moment for the news to set in. Vanya had gone sheet white, leaning on Leonard. Luther was staring at him like he had been speaking some foriegn language. Allison was shaking her head in denial.

Diego’s face had gone pale and his fists were clenched. “T-t-hat’ssss not t-true. T-t-take it back.”

Five’s face was impassive, etched with some horror only he could see, “It’s true, Diego. Klaus is dead.”

Their heads snapped to take in how old the thirteen year old face seemed. Allison leaned forward, her eyes burning, “How do you know?” The silence stretched for several minutes, “Five! How do you know that Klaus is dead?”

Five, looking like the world was crushing him, opened his mouth to speak. 

_ There were worse things than death. Five Hargreeves knew that to the marrow of his bones. Surviving in many ways was so much worse than death. Living without those he loved, living with only a mannequin for company for so many years.. Without a goal he would have sat down near his sibling’s graves and eaten a bullet. He had to stop an apocalypse. In his deepest mind he knew that stopping the end of the world was a means to an end. A means to convince himself that it was not time to join his family yet.  _

_ He would do anything to protect his family from that feeling. Anything. _

_ Five had hyper focused on his target. Until the shot that took out David Katz, he never realized who the soldier that Katz hung around with was. He had noted him, had noticed the love that had radiated off of both of them. But it wasn’t until his target was dead that an explosion lit up Klaus' face in just the right way that Five recognized him. Number Four was screaming for a medic, hunched over the soldier that Five had just killed and horror swept through the old man.  _

_ He had done that, he had separated his brother from his love. He had caused that pain. He could not go back, could not stop himself from taking that shot. The briefcase he had could not exist in two different places at once.  _

_ There was only one thing he could do to save his brother from that mind breaking pain. Five was careful when he took aim. A forehead shot was as close to instant death, instant pain relief as he could give. Klaus raised his head, his helmet already having fallen off, to scream for a medic once more, and Five took his shot.  _

_ He would do anything to protect his family from that kind of pain. Even if it meant that he lost them himself. He had not cried since he buried his siblings all those years ago. So there was no way he was crying, none at all.  _

_ Without a word he left for his next mission.  _

The silence was beyond deafening as the room listened to Five talk dispassionately. Frank thought that it reminded him of the way old soldiers would sometimes talk, the ones that had seen so much that they were beyond the ability to truly experience the horror of what they had done. That’s what he told himself he was hearing. Because the alternative was that Five truly did not care. That he was looking at the unrepentant murderer of his two brothers. 

Before he could even begin to process that. Vanya shifted, her eyes were devastated and somehow growing lighter, “You killed Klaus.” The words were a question and a statement. It was a plea to be contradicted.

It was a plea that was not answered. 

It was strange how a thirteen year old boy could look so old. There was something ragged under his youthful facade. But his voice was even, “I did. I can’t take it back, I can’t change it. I can’t excuse it. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary.”

There was the sound of something shattering in another room and the windows started to rattle. The Hargreeves seemed to ignore it. Frank and Leonard looked around. 

“A-and if w-we k-kill you?”

“Diego!” Allison snapped horrified.

“T-That issss not-t-t our brother. Our br-brother would never k-k-killed K-K-Klaus.”

Before the argument could devolve further the sound of the doorbell that echoed through the Academy. 

Allison gracefully stood and left the room. She was back 4 minutes later with a letter clutched in her hand. “A courier from a local law firm. Apparently they were paid to hold this letter until today and then deliver it here. It is addressed to all of us.”

There was silence before Luther burst out, “Well, what’s in it?”

Diego turned his burning eyes to Luther’s larger form. “I-is this r-r-r-really what we ssshould be t-t-talking about.”

Vanya was leaning on Leonard, “It might...It might give us all a time to absorb...everything.”

Diego looked like he was about to lay into Vanya before Luther stepped in, “Enough. She’s right. This has been a lot. We need time to figure out how to handle this.” His eyes cut to Five. “Let’s open the letter. ”

Allison opened the letter, the crinkle of the paper loud in haunted silence. She looked at the paper inside and after a moment gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. 

Vanya leaned forward, eager for a distraction “What is it?”

“H-Hey Jackasses,” She read, her voice faint, “Can someone come collect us. Our ride thought we were dead and left us behind. Love K-Klaus and Dave. Then there is a place and a date.”

Five’s head snapped up, with eyes that were wild. There were two quick flashes as he grabbed the letter from Allison and the briefcase from Frank, which he had honestly forgotten was with him. 

Before anyone could move he had twisted the dial on the briefcase, opened it, and disappeared in a flash of blue.

Somehow it was still made half the room jump when the blue light flashed just a few minutes later and deposited three figures where there had been one. 

The formerly dead, they had been dead, Frank knew they had been dead, soldiers both waved. Five looked kind of rough, like he had been crying. 

“Hola mi familia” Klaus chimed cheerfully. 

“WHAT THE FUCK” Leonard shouted, his eyes were wide. 

“Leonard?” Vanya asked softly

“No, No I am not prepared to take my revenge any further. This has just gotten way too weird.”

Vanya face paled, “Revenge?” 

Leonard threw his hands into the air, “Yes, you stupid bitch. Revenge. Against the fucking Umbrella Academy for ruining my life. Here,” he shoved a red covered book into Vanya’s hand, “you have powers just like the rest of these assholes but your fucking father drugged you, its all in there. I stole you medicine and was going to make you rely on me and when you relied on me enough I would have unleashed you to kill those Umbrella Academy fuckers. But I’m done. Goodbye.”

With that the pale man turned and marched his way out of the Umbrella Academy. The room watched him go. Of everything that should have shocked them into silence in the last hour that should not have been it. Still, no one seemed to know what to say as Vanya looked like she was about to burst into tears. They were broken from their stupor when the entrance hall burst into a thunderstorm and three bottles of whisky at the bar exploded. 

Allison and Klaus immediately moved to give Vanya a hug. Luther stared at the water pouring through the doorway as the storm in the entrance hall petered off. Diego’s eyes were staring wildly around the room like he wasn’t sure what problem to attack first. Five was staring out toward where Leonard had stormed off like he was mentally measuring how big a hole he would need to hide the body. Dave looked concerned and a bit woozy, probably from the time travel. 

“That was nuts” 

Frank heard the words from right next to him. There had not been anyone next to him before. He turned slowly to see a man dressed in black and outlined in blue. Any other hour and it would have freaked him out. He did agree with Leonard, though, this was a few steps too weird to really register right now. “Ben, right?”

Now it was Ben’s turn to be surprised as he jerked around to look at Frank. “You can see me?”

Frank nodded, “Spook musta taken his pills recently, first hour he usually makes friendly ghosts visible without realizing it. ‘Specially if he had been coming down for a while.”

Ben frowned, “What pills?”

Frank shrugged, “Not sure, something custom that he and a couple of the boys put together. Once they realized that some mixes gave him more control than others they started experimenting.”

It was then that Luther looked their way. Frank could see how his eyes went wide, “BEN”

This brought the room’s eyes over to the ghost he had been chatting with. From the corner of his eye Frank saw a nicely dressed woman with her head turned the wrong direction peer into the room, then turn and walk away. 

Klaus turned at the shout and grinned first at Ben then at Frank. “Benny, I’ve missed you. It’s been a long crazy year. And Frank, I told you I’d get you and Davey to 2019.”

Frank snorted, “True Spook, I doubt you meant for me to go ahead.”

Klaus shrugged with his whole body, “Eh, life and death as the case may be. Listen, I had a great idea. My sister Vanya, great girl just got out of a horrible relationship, is single aaaannnddd I’ve been looking for a way to make you officially family for months, and not the way that Dave is going to be officially family.” He threw a wink at Dave, who rolled his eyes and ginned fondly, “Clearly you guys should get hitched.”

There was a choking sound that came from several people around the room. Frank huffed a laugh, “Spook, you sister is gorgeous and you know I love going steady with a gal that loves music, but her jackass of an ex just walked out. It might be a bit too soon.”

Diego’s eyes had finally settled but looked no less crazed. “What is going on?”

Klaus swung his eyes to meet his brothers’. “Would you like the short answer of the long answer?”

“At this point I’ll take any answer” Allison muttered into the top of Vanya’s head. 

Klaus giggled, “Medium answer it is. So after I escaped Hazel and Cha-Cha, which you think with their names, they would have been much more fun.”

Five’s eyes flicked to the taken in the ceiling and his voice was bored, “Cha-cha is a great dancer if you get her drunk enough. Plus Hazel will have existential discussion at the drop of a hat.”

Klaus nodded like that was some great wisdom, “That tracks. So, I made my daring escape and stole their time travel briefcase. And hey, I’m thinking money or something I can pawn, but when I open it. Flash, I’m in Vietnam, It’s 1968,all I’m wearing is a towel and a trenchcoat, and I have just landed at the feet of the most gorgeous human I have ever met.” He winks at Dave, who blushes this time. “It takes me some time to figure out those little dials and by then I am hopelessly in love and just a few weeks shy of adopting a new soldier. We decide to stick around until our tours up then come home. Meantime I teach Davey and Frank how to work the briefcase, just in case. Which, hey, called it. Four days before our tour ends Davey is shot by Five for an assignment, then he shoots me to make sure I am not parted from my love. Good thinking by the way. God doesn’t like me, so wants to send me back. She tries to keep my dear Dave, but because I was with him she eventually sends us both back. By that time we had been dead for a few hours, freaked the graves registration guys when we sat up, and our dear brother Franky has followed my last wish and left 1968 behind. Fast forward another few months Dave has the great idea to have a letter sent through time though a lawyers office and hopefully get a pickup from someone who can time travel. Which works. Five hugs me, cries, and apologies, which was by far the freakiest thing that has happened to me. We come back, Vanya’s jackass of an ex? Maybe ex? Vanya’s jackass flips his lid, reveal ye old plot to make our sweetest sister kill us all, as if. Vanya causes a rainstorm and some exploding whiskey. And I think that wraps it up. Oh and the type of pills I am on right let me make Ben corporeal and block the screamers, so that's exciting.”

To his dying day Frank does not who said it but someone says very loudly, “What the Fuck.”

Frankly it may have been him.


	2. The Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the most I have written in one universe in this amount of time. I never push things out this fast. Not for nothing this was supposed to start from the moment that they got the not in chapter one, then this happened.

_ There were worse things than death. Five Hargreeves knew that to the marrow of his bones. Surviving in many ways was so much worse than death. Living without those he loved, living with only a mannequin for company for so many years.. Without a goal he would have sat down near his sibling’s graves and eaten a bullet. He had to stop an apocalypse. In his deepest mind he knew that stopping the end of the world was a means to an end. A means to convince himself that it was not time to join his family yet.  _

_ He would do anything to protect his family from that feeling. Anything. _

_ Five had hyper focused on his target. Until the shot that took out David Katz, he never realized who the soldier that Katz hung around with was. He had noted him, had noticed the love that had radiated off of both of them. But it wasn’t until his target was dead that an explosion lit up Klaus' face in just the right way that Five recognized him. Number Four was screaming for a medic, hunched over the soldier that Five had just killed and horror swept through the old man.  _

_ He had done that, he had separated his brother from his love. He had caused that pain. He could not go back, could not stop himself from taking that shot. The briefcase he had could not exist in two different places at once.  _

_ There was only one thing he could do to save his brother from that mind breaking pain. Five was careful when he took aim. A forehead shot was as close to instant death, instant pain relief as he could give. Klaus raised his head, his helmet already having fallen off, to scream for a medic once more, and Five took his shot.  _

_ He would do anything to protect his family from that kind of pain. Even if it meant that he lost them himself. He had not cried since he buried his siblings all those years ago. So there was no way he was crying, none at all.  _

_ Without a word he left for his next mission.  _

The very height of irony is that his next mission was to assassinate Kennedy. Now he was facing the siblings he had buried and the brother he had just killed. Delores would have laughed her other arm off. 

The world ended in 8 days and this Klaus looked almost nothing like the one who Five had shot. Maybe that meant he had more time than he thought. Maybe time travel gave him less time than anyone could guess. Maybe love had truly changed his brother. Five did not let his eyes linger on any of them. 

They were dead and living all at once. Schrödinger’s siblings. They lived in the dining room of his mind, forever thirteen and waiting for him to come home. They died in image seared onto his mind's eye, buried in rubble. Klaus specifically died in movement, head snapping back to catch the bullet, slumping over the body of Dave Katz. Living and dead all at once with images overlapping.

He left, telling Klaus and the others he needed coffee. They believed him. They thought caffeine was his addiction, his need. As if he needed any help to keep from sleeping. Not when bodies buried in rubble were walking around making him focus on them. Not when his brother's smooth forehead was waiting for a bullet that Five had already shot.

He had to save them. He had to keep going because their graves still called from a week away. All except the one that was now standing empty. He buried a dead brother to shoot the live version in place he could not have. 

So Five left them all behind in the Academy that had not yet been destroyed. The soon to be gravesites. Luther buried under what had been the entryway, Allison broken in the remains of the archway of what had been the main living room, Diego lying not far from her, Klaus even farther still beneath what had once been the grand staircase. Their locations are memorized, etched into Fives brain. It is no trouble at all to see the stone where they would lay. 

He had to stop the apocalypse. He had to. He had to focus. 

Because he had his own gravesite already picked. 

He knows that if he had found Vanya and Ben that he would not have had the will to survive. The lack of their bodies gave him just enough hope to keep moving until the idea of stopping this madness came to him. 

Delores was a godsend, she was all of them. She was Luther’s righteousness. She was Alison's pride. She held all of Diego’s brash abrasive caring and Klaus wild eye mischief. From Ben she picked up an unflappable calm, like nothing short of eldritch tentacles is worth worrying about. She most resembled Vanya, his sounding board and best friend, Delores had quiet caring, the way she could say a single thing and change his perspective. She was his reminder what he was doing this for. She was the only reason that he had been able to leave their graves, she urged him onward. 

It was only the fact that he had never found her body that allowed him to seek Vanya out. She didn’t exist among the dead in his brain. He used the word ordinary when describing her, and it was true but not in the way she thought. There was only one Vanya, no death mask overlay, no bleeding bullet. Her grave did not appear when he stepped into the place that he should have been home. She only existed in the living dining room of his memory.

But she didn’t believe him, thought him broken. Too young and innocent for him. She couldn’t understand. It was unfair of him, he realized abruptly, to equate Vanya with Delores. Delores whispered from his brain, knew his mind and its broken edges. Vanya was pristine and should not be sullied with any of them. As so he breaks a trust that has existed across time and space in the space of a promise. His debt grew heavier. 

At this rate he would drive all of his siblings away to protect them. He wasn’t sure if it mattered. He had to prevent the apocalypse. It was the only reason he was not at his own grave. (Halfway between Luther and Allison, picked out because he could see all four of his siblings at once.)

The countdown continued. Five somehow managed not to completely alienate any more siblings, not even Luther. One hour after he arrived back at the headquarters of the Commision a strange sound echoed through the room. He looked up to see the Handler storm out of her office, a worried look upon her face. Things were shifting, the room was growing insubstantial and changing. A large screen popped into existence. Intrinsically Five knew the screen connected to upper management. 

Words scrolls across the screen.

Message Priority Level: First Tier

To: All Time Managers and Agents, Temps Aeternus

From: Top Management

Contents: 

To all it may concern. As of this moment the Apocalypse is discontinued. The conditions necessary for the end of time have been deemed impossible. New assignments will be forthcoming for the maintenance of this timeline. 

Five would have likely continued to stare, uncomprehendingly at the words indefinitely. He had never had a set of sentences make less sense. 

It was over? Just like that? What had happened? The fires, the ash, the graves with his own picked out? It was deemed impossible? What happened? 

There was a small chime and a more delicate version of the tubes he was used to appeared on his desk

Notice of Reassignment:

Agent: Five Hargreeves

Assignment:

Your new permanent assignment is to return to March 2019. You will be charged with preventing time travel related interference during the years of your natural life. Equipment will be issued to allow you to detect time travel related events. 

Please be advised that there may be authorized time travel to your assigned time period. It will be expected that authorized time travelers will report to you within 24 hours of entry into the time period. Please ensure that the travellers are equipped for life in the time period. 

As management you will oversee an organization of approximately 1500 people charged with maintaining your assigned time period. Most will be Agents whose natural lives would have fallen within the time period or locals. You have complete control over how your organization is run, as long as you get results. 

You have been pre authorized for one(1) round trip to the year 1969, with a return of up to three passengers not including yourself. Any other time travel will have to be approved of at least six(6) days in advance.

Please report to the transportation room for transport to your new assignment and to collect your initial equipment, list of immediate subordinates, and to confirm delivery location and time for further equipment. 

Standing, he saw that he was not the only one to receive such a tube. Shock and some awe littered a few faces but he also saw more than a few angry ones as well. Even as he moved through the bland little office, none of it really registered. The Handler was looking down on them, he expected her to be angry but instead he thought he saw something like pride in her eyes. 

Five was hollow. There would be no graves built of rubble with shaking hands. No mannequin whose voice was all of his siblings. No place for him to finally fall down and rest. No more. 

He could hear Delores laughing at him, telling him to celebrate. 

The Handler met him in the transportation room. 

Five stared at her as the worker began to assemble his equipment, “You’re not angry?” He asked at last, vaguely curious.

The Handler laughed lightly, “Impressed, more than anything. In my 500 years with the Time commission, do you know how many rogue agents I have had?”

Five, the boy who had grown up first in an abusive toxic home and then the end of times (and whose social skill reflected it), still knew enough not to comment on the 500 years thing. “No.”

Looking like she knew exactly what was going on in his mind and that it amused her, “132. It sounds like a lot until you think of the thousands who have come through here. Most trying to change something to save loved ones, a handful even tried to stop the apocalypse. Do you know how many succeeded?”

“No idea.”

The Handler’s smile was as sharp as ever, “1. You. Every attempt to subvert the apocalypse failed, made things worse even. The only changes making the circumstances more painful, less survivors or destabilizing things so much that anything that survived wished for death. Until you. Until 0 survivors became 1.It’s impressive. And you solved what we always considered unsolvable.”

“That’s it. That’s all you needed.”

The Handler looked at him, and all at once Five could believe that she was over 500 years old. Her smile was one that Five recognized on a visceral level, “I am here to maintain the timeline. What timeline is does not matter.”

There was nothing to say to that. Five was handed his equipment and the Handler used the briefcase she was holding to bring him to the bedroom that had once been his. Without a word she left him there with his new equipment. He left the equipment on his bed and jumped find his siblings,

From the top of the stairs he could hear Allison, “I’m sorry but we really do have other things we need to deal with. Klaus will have to wait. The end of the world...”

Five jumped in and interrupted her, “...is canceled.” All of his living siblings except Klaus, are in the living room. Vanya is sitting with an unremarkable man that Five does not know but whose eyes look familiar. Allison and Luther are standing off to one side. Diego was closer to the entrance, glowering. On the far side of the room there was a man, barely more than a boy in soldiers fatigues. Likely Vietnam. Five sighed, “I hadn’t thought it would be that soon.”

“Wait, what do you mean canceled?” Diego exclaimed. “What happened?”

Five shrugged “No one knows, The Commission is in a shambles, but the memo came down from upper management. The apocalypse is canceled. Seems that whatever the conditions were became impossible to accomplish. Do you drink?”

The unknown boy jolted, “Uh...yes, sometimes.”

Five went to the bar, how is it that he was the one to offer their guest a drink, “Likely better quality than you’ve had recently.”

The boy took the glass and took a fortifying drink.“You know why I’m here?”

Five nodded, “Yes, I didn’t expect it now but I knew it would happen. How far have you gotten?”

Frank took a breath and another drink,“Nowhere so far. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Private Frank Pierce of the 173rd Sky Soldiers. Up until approximately 3 hours ago I was serving in the Vietnam war; 1968 specifically.”

Luther scoffed, “Right. Look, did Klaus put you up to this? Whatever he promised you I am sure he can’t deliver it...”

“Luther” Five interrupted. Every eye in the room swung to him. Whatever Luther saw made him shut his mouth with a click, “He is telling the truth. I suggest you listen to what he has to say.”

“How do you know?” Vanya asked softly.

Five grimaced, “I’ll tell you all once Private Pierce gets through telling you what he needs to.” 

The room turned its attention back to Frank. The boy squared his shoulders. “I served with Klaus Hargreeves for six months. He served his country bravely and saved many lives. He and another soldier by the name of Dave Katz were like older brothers to me. The only family I can actually claim. He was shot and killed attempting to get Dave medical attention on november 15th 1968. At the time of his death he had been serving for 10 months. I am sorry to be the one who has to bring this news.”

Vanya had gone sheet white, leaning on Leonard. Luther was staring at him like he had been speaking some foriegn language. Allison was shaking her head in denial.

Diego’s face had gone pale and his fists were clenched. “T-t-hat’ssss not t-true. T-t-take it back.”

Five’s face felt distant, All he could see was the hole in his brother’s forehead, “It’s true, Diego. Klaus is dead.”

Their heads snapped to take in how old the thirteen year old face seemed. Allison leaned forward, her eyes burning, “How do you know?” The silence stretched for several minutes, “Five! How do you know that Klaus is dead?”

Five could barely breathe, this was the moment that he lost them all. They would be alive, the academy would stand but Five would never again be able to sit at the grave site he chose and be able to see his family. But he owed them the truth, “Because I am the one that killed him and his partner. A shot through the forehead. It was quick. It was the least I could do for him.”

Vanya shifted, her eyes were devastated and somehow growing lighter, “You killed Klaus.” The words were a question and a statement. It was a plea to be contradicted.

It was a plea that was not answered. 

Five released a shaky breath. He could have ignored anyone in the room but Vanya. The debt he owed her was almost as the one he owed Klaus himself, “I did. I can’t take it back, I can’t change it. I can’t excuse it. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary.”

“A-and if w-we k-kill you?”

“Diego!” Allison snapped horrified.

“T-That issss not-t-t our brother. Our br-brother would never k-k-killed K-K-Klaus.”

Five felt a flash of annoyance. They were all focusing on the wrong part. He owed Klaus, he owed all of them whatever punishment they could come up with. But it was not for Klaus’s death. They weren’t asking the right questions. 

Before the argument could devolve further the sound of the doorbell that echoed through the Academy. 

Allison gracefully stood and left the room. She was back 4 minutes later with a letter clutched in her hand. “A courier from a local law firm. Apparently they were paid to hold this letter until today and then deliver it here. It is addressed to all of us.”

There was silence before Luther burst out, “Well, what’s in it?”

Diego turned his burning eyes to Luther’s larger form. “I-is this r-r-r-really what we ssshould be t-t-talking about.”

Vanya was leaning on Leonard, “It might...It might give us all a time to absorb...everything.”

Diego looked like he was about to lay into Vanya before Luther stepped in, “Enough. She’s right. This has been a lot. We need time to figure out how to handle this.” His eyes cut to Five. “Let’s open the letter. ”

Allison opened the letter, the crinkle of the paper loud in haunted silence. She looked at the paper inside and after a moment gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. 

Vanya leaned forward, eager for a distraction “What is it?”

“H-Hey Jackasses,” She read, her voice faint, “Can someone come collect us. Our ride thought we were dead and left us behind. Love K-Klaus and Dave. Then there is a place and a date.”

Five felt a jolt through her body. Alive, they were alive. His brother and the debt, could be paid. He could bring him, bring them home. He stepped to grab the letter from Allison and the briefcase sitting near Frank Peirce. 

A glance at the date, time and place on the letter and Five was ready to go in moments. As the breifcase’s light engulfed him, it occurred to him that this must have been the pre approved trip management had spoken of. 

The flash faded to an open field at the edge of a small town. Standing a bit away was the pair of men he was looking for. Both alive. Both looking healthy. He dropped the briefcase and lurched forward. The sound drew their attention just before Five crashed into him. 

He could hear his own voice babbling in a way that had never happened before. He wrapped his arms around his brother, apologies falling from his lips. 

“Uh..there, there?” Klaus’s voice sounded from somewhere above him.

From somewhere off to one side he heard a snort, “Really, Spook?”

The form in his arm moved, but didn’t try to move away, “I did tell you about Reggie, right? Comforting was not on the agenda at murder school.”

Finally Five pulls away from his living brother, there is wetness on Klaus’s loud shirt. He looks at the man whom his brother had loved. He looked kind. 

“What do you know about how you two died?”

Klaus caulked his head, “we were shot”

Five waited for more, and when nothing else was forthcoming he closed his eyes. There was nothing Five wanted less than having this conversation. “There is more to it than that.” He hated how small his voice sounded. 

Klaus exchanged a look with Dave. Five watched as Dave visibly let Klaus take the reins. “What’s up Five-Oh? What do you know?”

A debt, he owes these men a debt. “Before you traveled here, were you told about the Time Commission?”

“No” Klaus paused, “Was that who those masked assholes were. Hazel and Cha Cha?”

Five could feel his face contort. Absently he wondered what facial expression he was making, “When did you learn their names?”

Klaus waved his good-bye hand, “They took me from the house before I went on this magical mystery ride. They tortured me for information about you, I stole their time travel briefcase. It’s even.”

Dave sighed, “Sunshine, it really isn’t.”

Klaus flashed a manic grin back at Dave.

Five sighed, “They are temporal assassins. Their job is to make sure that the timeline goes like it is supposed to. Oftentimes by killing a small important player before they can make some pivotal decision.”

The face Klaus made showed the soldier he had become as he made the connection, “Are you saying that we were killed by a Time Assassin.”

It was better they knew now, then be told later five reminded himself, “Yes”

“How do you know?” Dave asked. 

“I was also a Temporal Assassin. They would have let me retire to any time period I wished and I thought it would get me home faster.”

Klaus made a jittery motion, “Is that why you have so many ghosts around you? Wait, don't answer that, is the time assassin going to come back?”

Five shook his head, the world was pulsing “you don’t have to worry…?”

“How can you be sure?” Klaus all but shrieked.

“Because I was the Temporal Assassin that killed you.” The words burst out like they were propelled.

Silence descended, Klaus looked stricken. “What?” he breathed, taking a step away from Five, stepping between Five and Dave.

Five breathed and felt tears threaten again. “My target was Dave Katz, I- I didn’t know who he was to you, Klaus. Not until after I took the shot. I didn’t recognize you until after he had died. And I couldn’t change because the briefcases cannot exist in two places at once. I couldn’t leave you heartbroken like that, Klaus, I couldn’t. And so I made sure that you and Dave would go together. Let me take you two back to 2019. To our siblings, you won’t have to see me any longer after that.”

Five was well aware that he was begging but he finally reached the end of his ability to adapt. He needed to get these two to safety. 

He felt himself be pulled into a hug, “Oh, thank you.”

This pushed him right out of his panic attack, Klaus was beaming at him. Five wondered if the bullet to the brain did more damage than he thought. Or different damage. “What?”

Klaus continued to beam. “If you didn’t do that I would have lost Dave. So thank you. God doesn’t like me and would have thrown me back either way. But, because I was with Dave we were able to convince Her to share my gift with my love. So you are the reason we got effectively married by God.”

“We were not married by God” Dave interjected fondly, “you’re not getting out of that ceremony, Sunshine”

Klaus back away from the hug and waves a cheerful Hello hand at Dave, “We are stuck with each other for eternity, if that is not married then what is it?”

“A curse?” Five suggested dryly. The weight of his debt was getting lighter. 

While Klaus was being playfully offended, Five popped back to get the briefcase. Just before he opened it Klaus reached into his pocket to pop a pill. Then the three of them were gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided I really wanted to explore Five's mindset a little more. 
> 
> Also I was a quarter of the way through writing this when I had a brainwave about the Commission. What if if the reason they are trying to maintain the apocalypse timeline is that every time someone tries to change they make it worse. Like the original apocalypse was just the city being destroyed and every time someone tried to fix it it got bigger and bigger until The Time Commission was eventually formed before the entire planet blew up.

**Author's Note:**

> This was such a roller coaster to write. This started as a member of the 173rd other than Dave goes forward to tell them about Klaus's death and it just jerked me around from there.
> 
> Side note: The moment the end of the world was averted was the moment that Frank convinced Vanya to listen to what he had to say. I imagine that the secret she didn't reveal was some horrible abuse that Reginald heaped on the tow of them that they swore to never speak of again. Frank effectively reminded her that her siblings were not always her enemies. 
> 
> Side note 2: Five is such interesting character because his morals cannot be normal based on what we know of him. I fully believe that he would be the only one capable of killing one of his siblings in the name of sparing them more pain. Klaus has the same practicality but a different relationship with death.


End file.
